5 Ways to Make Your Golf Course Love You

A lot goes into planning a golf tournament, and for much of that planning the golf course is involved. It is crucial to have a positive relationship with your golf course to have a successful tournament (for years and years to come!) Though it is an important aspect, many times there is so much going on that it can be hard to present the course with clear reports, pay the fees on time, and have all the signage/groups/check in materials organized. This can lead to chaos. If chaos is something you want to avoid for your upcoming tournament, there are some ways to make the whole process easier.

Here are 5 ways to make your golf course absolutely love you.

Way #1: Come prepared with golfer information, custom questions, etc.

Okay, this is standard procedure, right? Coming prepared to your own tournament with golfer information (including any specifications that would apply to your individual tournament) should be the most basic thing…however, things do get mixed up in the crosshairs, especially when you have been organizing an event with mail-out flyers and handwritten lists. Obviously, if you can make the golf course’s day as easy as possible: they will love you. Therefore, you should aim to come to your golf tournament fully prepared with all the relevant information. Step one is to ditch those old methods of organizing registrants. In previous posts, we’ve talked about the striking benefits of using a website versus a mail-out flyer for the organization of your tournament. By implementing a website, namely BirdEase, you can download full reports with all of your registrant/golfer information with the click of a button. This will also include any custom questions that you choose to apply to different registration/sponsorship items: which might be shirt size, dietary restrictions, or whatever else you may need to know on the actual day of your event.

Way #2: Gather your money quicker and pay your fee ahead of time

One thing that you don’t want happening is not having the budget or ability to pay on the days your fees are due at the golf course. This is something that could potentially happen when there is no system for automatic payment integrated to your web page. It is easier for the golf course AND the event manager (you), if you receive money immediately and directly. No checks lost in the mail, no waiting days for the money to be entered into your account or driving to the bank. Having the money you raise immediately will help you tremendously with budgeting, and it will certainly make your golf course LOVE you for being so on top of the finances.

Way #3: Have all your sponsor logos ready at any time for printing.

A well-organized tournament means that all of the signage is in order and ready to be displayed on the course. You want to avoid running around like a chicken with your head cut off on the day of at all costs. The chaos creeps in when it is a week before your event and you are still waiting on sponsor logos, or printed materials to arrive because you had to wait so long for those logos. This can be avoided by allowing your sponsors to upload their logos right to you as soon as they register. The BirdEase software allows your sponsors to do just that. You will have the ability to approve the logos once they appear on your site, so that they can be prominently displayed on the sidebar (a great additional way to advertise your sponsors) but also for printed materials such as signs at holes and the welcome table, and brochures. I promise, your golf course will love the ease of setting up your event if you have everything organized and ready to go.

Way #4: Have all your golfers grouped and organized for cart signs and scorecards.

Circling back to the first point about automatic reporting: one of the most important aspects that you will actually need for the "golf” bit of your golf tournament is an organized tee sheet. This report will indicate teams, starting positions, etc. It is one of the most important parts of running a golf tournament smoothly, and this is information that your course would really need to know in order to help make your event a success. In addition to the full report of your golfer’s information, BirdEase will also automatically generate a Tee Sheet for you which will reflect the starting positions and groupings in one beautiful Excel spreadsheet that you can simply hand to the course.

Way #5: Have the ability to notify all your golfers at a moment’s notice of a change.

Another huge stressor when it comes to managing your golf event is getting out the necessary communication to everyone who needs to hear it. You want to avoid having people in the dark the day of your event because this causes confusion for all parties: the golfers, yourself, and the golf course. Imagine a system that allowed you to write mass communication, upload lists of golfer emails (that can be downloaded as a report right from your site!) and track the progress of the emails you send to make sure they have been received. You don’t have to imagine too hard, because that system exists right within BirdEase. Integrated right into the software is a message center to make sure all your registrants are on the same page the day of your event.